Finansia Syrus Securities has partnered with VN Direct Securities, Vietnam’s top online brokerage firm, to allow Thai investors to directly invest in Vietnamese securities via an online trading platform.

Chief executive Chuangchai Nawongs said the company is the only domestic brokerage firm providing direct online equities trading on the Hanoi Stock Exchange and the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

The partnership allows customers to conduct trade and securities transactions by themselves, as opposed to making a call to place an order, said Mr. Chuangchai. Investors can monitor their investment portfolios in real-time through a smartphone application or when browsing the internet.

The move will encourage customers to become more active as Vietnam is viewed as having high growth potential, with GDP expected to expand 7% annually over the next three years, he said.

The Vietnamese stock markets also generate high investment returns, registering a 48% return in 2017, 14.8% in 2016, and 6.12% in 2015, said Mr.Chuangchai.

Finansia Syrus Securities is ranked second in terms of domestic online trading, with market share of 5-6%, he said.

“We are working on a business strategy to drive our company to become the [leading digital securities company] this year,” said Mr. Chuangchai.

The company has 60,000 retail investor and internet trading accounts, making up 60% of its total trading volume.

More than 1,000 accounts are associated with overseas securities trading. The company aims to achieve 100% growth this year, on the back of good customer response to the online platform, said Mr. Chuangchai.

The minimum payment is capped at 100,000 baht for customers interested in opening an investment portfolio related to overseas securities trading. For trading of Vietnamese securities through VNtrade service, a commission fee of 0.4% is applied along with value-added tax for both purchase and sales transactions.

VNDIRECT Securities chief executive Nguyen Hoang Giang said the Vietnamese stock markets are mainly driven by retail investors, accounting for 75% of average daily trading volume of US$300 – 400 million (9.43 – 12.6 billion baht)

Some 98% of retail investors are trading online, said Mr. Nguyen Hoang Giang.

According to the: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1404122/thais-given-direct-line-to-vietnam